Hugh's Chicken Run Episode 3

Date Published:

09/01/2008

After managing his own intensive chicken farm, Hugh's free-range campaign goes into overdrive

The reality of his experiment to witness, first hand, the conditions that 95% of Britain's poultry are raised in, has been a challenging education for Hugh, and as the series draws to a close, it's slaughter day for the chickens reared intensively on his experimental farm.

Just 39 days after they hatched, the 2,500 birds have reached the slaughter age of an average broiler chicken. But at the end of their life, how will they have fared in the intensive environment that has severely restricted their movement and deprived them of natural light.

And how will they compare to the free-range birds raised at the Millwey estate who also face the chop?

This is a big moment for the Millwey residents, who are asked to kill, cook and eat the chickens that some have come to regard as pets.

The plan to make Axminster Britain's first free range town goes into overdrive as Hugh tries to persuade not just local shops and supermarkets but everyone from the Indian restaurant to fast food shops and pubs to go completely free range for Chicken Out! Week: a week during which Hugh needs to ensure more than 50% of chicken bought and consumed in Axminster is free range.

But with free-range currently accounting for less than 5% of the poultry sold in this country, it's an ambitious target.

Hugh's dreams of a free-range future are not helped by rumours that the campaign is a ploy to promote poultry sales in his own shop, and he realises that not everyone appreciates being preached to by someone who many see as that posh bloke off the telly.

And Hugh's struggle to engage with the supermarkets takes on a local dimension after an unfortunate misunderstanding with the biggest supermarket in town.

Has Hugh's emotional mission been in vain or will Axminster support the free-range revolution?

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